


By The Light of Stardust

by orphan_account



Series: McHanzo Week [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, McHanzo Week, McHanzo Week 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 11:17:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11252031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: His bravado falters in that lapse between darkness and dawn, curbed by the feel of those trembling fingers tangled in the bristle of his beard and the answering ache in his heart.***McHanzo Week Day 1 Prompt: Morning//Night





	By The Light of Stardust

**Author's Note:**

> MCHANZO WEEK FAM! M C H A N Z O WEEEKKKKKK!!! WHO'S READY FOR SOME POORLY WRITTEN NONSENSE?? I AMMMM! i give you the infamous blackwatch!jesse x young!hanzo au...AGAIN! im so sorry this was late btw…

The sparse moments before the brilliance of dawn feel removed from time itself, an ethereal bubble untouched by the nagging of Reyes or the weight of future assignments. Assignments that will likely not direct his path through the bustling, neon streets of Hanamura and its residents. Assignments that will have him scrubbing the bloodstains out of his trousers and from the silver of Peacekeeper's sleek barrel. Not to mention the fact that this kind of work will probably have him tucked in an early grave before he turns twenty five. Huh...the thought of that kind of thing hadn't bothered him so much in Deadlock. Maybe Reyes's bullshit about sticking your neck out for a worthy cause had some grain of truth to it.

"Your mind is elsewhere,"

The blunt statement shakes Jesse forcefully out of his thoughts he glances up at the face of the resident crime lord to be whose chest he is currently curled up against. He very nearly snorts. The expression Hanzo Shimada bore, for all the dignified poise carved into every sharp angle of his face, was as bleary as the next man when woken up for romantic trysts at sunrise.

"Can't help it if I need a moment when the very thought of you sends my ol' heart aflutter," Jesse quips and grins when he sees a sceptical eyebrow quirk.

The cold hands that been curled under Jesse's shirt to press against the warm expanse of his back retreat suddenly and Jesse shivers when those blunt nails rake gently across his skin. He watches as Hanzo absently trying to smooth away the worst of the bedhead mess his dark hair seemed to have worked itself into. It was kind of cute, watching the usually self-contained heir of the Shimada crime syndicate work himself into a bit of a tizzy over a couple knots.  

"You want some help, darlin?"

The question evidently ruffles a few feathers judging from the slightly icy expression that greets him but it soon thaws, the first fingers of dawn revealing something wistful gentling Hanzo's stern brow.  

"If you insist," he offers softly and shuffles his legs out from under Jesse's arms before turning his back to the cowboy, offering those long tresses. Jesse swallows away his surprise and sets to work, combing gently at the ends with his fingers. He isn't sure what is more shocking; the fact that Hanzo is offering yet another small gesture of the closest thing to trust a Shimada can offer or that Jesse really wants to nibble at the lobe of one of those cute ears. Lord almighty, what has the world come to?

His fingers snag then on a knot. There is little light, so Jesse feels his way through the untangling, fingers far too accustomed to coaxing knots out of rope to be challenged. The hair gradually unfurls and Jesse continues on in silence. He is halfway done when, in a moment of weakness and spurred on by an aching heart, he brushes Hanzo's hair over his shoulder and ghosts a kiss over the pale neck in front of him. He half-expects a dagger to the throat for his brazenness, not a sharp intake of breath and a rumbling voice that sends heat curling up his spine and writhing low in his belly.

"Do not steal what may be freely given,"

Jesse nearly groans. After nearly two months of coy flirtation, of sneaky outings under the moon's smile, of fiery competition between bow and firearm, of soft conversation eased by sake, of this unforgiving but captivating song and dance, he might be getting a kiss.

"That a green light, sweetness?"

Hanzo swivels suddenly, now facing him, but Jesse fingers stay tangled and he nearly falls into the man's lap trying not to pull at the strands. He freezes when his hat is knocked aside, cold fingers trailing up his jaw to nestle into his hair. Hanzo is closer than he has ever been before and there is a peculiar intensity to his eyes, something like a bittersweet smile upon his lips. He leans down, a charming flush colouring the tips of his ears but barely visible in the morning light, those calloused fingers carding through the bristle of Jesse's hair, before he brushes a feather light kiss against the cowboy's mouth.

Jesse McCree could have died in that instant and no one would have been able to tell him he hadn't gone to heaven.

"I know who you are," The Shimada murmurs against those chapped lips and that gentleness is gone, replaced with a unyielding steel that Jesse hadn't since he'd first been caught by Shimada gate, attempting to note down guard rotations. The fingers in the cowboy's hair tighten ever so slightly.

A mixture of primal fear and dread threaten to crush Jesse's lungs and instinct has him grappling for Peacekeeper (Reyes is gonna be so fucking disappointed when they find what's left of his body in a ditch somewhere...God, Jesse never thought it'd be his own heart that led him to his grave). He would have probably torn out a clump or two of Hanzo's hair in his haste if not for the gentle grip that suddenly encircles his fingers. Every inch of Blackwatch training demands that he break those wrists and make the best break he can before he inevitably has his throat slit. His body refuses to move.

"I am not going to kill you," Hanzo is avoiding his gaze, lips thinned. The grip he has on Jesse's fingers as he extracts them from his hair is still achingly gentle.

"You couldn't," Jesse snarls before he can stop himself, trembling with adrenaline.  

Surprisingly, Hanzo says nothing, only stares resolutely at the waking sunrise. His eyes are hooded, conflicted expression twisted with concerns Jesse isn't privy to. His fingers retract, allowing Jesse's hands to fall to his side. The closeness between them now feels stifling. Neither move.

Jesse should incapacitate him. At the very _least_. His fingers twitch, but no will manifests itself.

"I'm leaving tomorrow," He offers into the silence. Is it a reassurance? A plea? He doesn't know anymore.

No reaction. Well, that smarts something painful. A sigh whistles out of his lips.

"Were we just playing each other all along?" Jesse laughs humorlessly. That'd be right.

The laughter dies in his throat at the tentative touch trailing through his scruff and thumbing at his cheekbone. Those dark eyes are upon him once again, a foreign desperation carved into Hanzo Shimada's proud features. Jesse's heart pounds in his throat, staring at the inexplicable, silenced swirl of emotion twisting at the face in front of him. Exasperation, pain, affection, resignation, anger (at himself or at Jesse?).

"I was not,"

Hanzo Shimada is no coward, heart and teeth bared and Jesse McCree trembles under the force of what lies between them. His bravado falters in that lapse between darkness and dawn, curbed by the feel of those trembling fingers tangled in the bristle of his beard and the answering ache in his heart. Nothing can come of the longing between them, he knows that. No matter how hard Jesse longs for more time to teeter on the edge of that frightening precipice, daring to fall in love, his chain belongs to Reyes and to Blackwatch. But he wants to. He wants to more time to _know_ this man.

"Me neither," He whispers hoarsely into the cold dawn.

The bittersweet kiss pressed harshly against his lips is no balm for the pain in his heart.

**Author's Note:**

> leave a comment and/or kudos if you enjoyed!! I treasure each and every response. also im sorry for the poor pacing but this whole writing shtick was giving me heartache so…


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